HAN MATERIAL CULTURE An Archaeological Analysis and Vessel Typology Han Material Culture is an analysis of Han dynasty (206 BC AD 220) Chinese archaeology based on a comparison of the forms of vessels found in positively dated tombs. The resultant chronological framework allows for the cross-dating of tombs across China, of which approximately one thousand are documented here. In the context of this body of data, the development of not only vessel types but also tomb structure and décor are reevaluated together with the pervasive intercultural exchange visible in all areas of this material. The Han dynasty emerges as a creative, surprisingly open society, heir to the Bronze Age and herald of what might be called the Age of Ceramics. is an independent scholar specializing in the political history and the archaeology of Han dynasty China and of contemporaneous non-chinese cultures. Her work has appeared in such journals as Monumenta Serica, Early China, Dialogues d histoire ancienne, and Artibus Asiae. Of particular importance in her research is the exploration of interregional relations within Han China and of China s international relations, not only with its immediate neighbors but also with territories extending through India and Central Asia to the classical West.
HAN MATERIAL CULTURE An Archaeological Analysis and Vessel Typology sophia-karin psarras Independent Scholar
32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Information on this title: /9781107069220 2015 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2015 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Psarras, Sophia-Karin. Han material culture : an archaeological analysis and vessel typology /, independent scholar. pages cm isbn 978-1-107-06922-0 (Hardback) 1. China History Han dynasty, 202 B.C. 220 A.D. 2. Excavations (Archaeology) China. 3. China Antiquities. 4. Pottery, Chinese. I. Title. ds748.13.p78 2014 931 0.04 dc23 2014026183 isbn 978-1-107-06922-0 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
CONTENTS List of Tables.....................page vi List of Figures....................... vii List of Maps........................ ix Acknowledgments...................... xi Abbreviations...................... xiii Han Emperors....................... xv 1 Problems of Chronology............... 1 Methodological Problems................ 1 Positive Dates...................... 3 Coinage........................ 11 2 The Tombs..................... 15 Guangzhou (Guangdong), Yinshanling (Pingle, Guangxi), Shixing (Guangdong)................. 27 Shangsunjiazhai (Datong, Qinghai).......... 31 3 Tomb Décor..................... 34 The Problem of Meaning............... 34 Décor as Product................... 51 4 Vessels in the Typologies.............. 60 Preimperial Bronzes as Heirlooms........... 87 Mancheng M2:4028.................. 87 Mancheng M2:4029.................. 89 Nanyue C53...................... 90 Sanlidun (Lianshui, Jiangsu) Bronzes......... 91 Hejiayuan (Wuhu Municipality, Anhui) Bronzes... 93 Hejiayuan M1:5................... 93 Hejiayuan M1:4................... 94 Hejiayuan M1:3................... 95 Imitation of Preimperial Bronzes........... 96 Mancheng M1:5019................. 96 Mancheng M1:5014................. 97 Mancheng M1:5015, 5018.............. 98 Mancheng M1:4282 (series)............. 99 Nanyue G40.................... 101 Nanyue G41.....................101 5 Conclusion.....................104 Chronological Listing of Dated Han Sites........ 109 Alphabetical Listing of Dated Han Sites......... 169 Alphabetical Listing of Dated Non-Chinese Sites..... 177 Object Typologies................... 179 Chronological Summary of Vessel Forms........ 281 Notes...283 References for Dated Sites............... 315 Index........................ 337 v
TABLES 2.1 Distribution of dated Han tombs and other items................................. page 16 2.2 Distribution of dated Han tombs............................................. 17 2.3 Distribution of dated Han grave types.......................................... 18 2.4 Distribution of dated Han tomb structures........................................ 19 2.5 Chronological distribution of tomb structures at Shaogou (Luoyang Municipality, Henan)............... 19 2.6 Chronological distribution of tomb structures at Guangzhou (Guangdong)....................... 25 3.1 List of dated tomb décors................................................. 36 4.1 Distribution of vessel forms................................................ 61 4.2 Distribution of dated vessels in bronze and iron..................................... 68 4.3 Distribution of vessel types providing eight or more examples.............................. 70 4.4 Distribution of dated vessels in stoneware and porcelain................................. 71 4.5 Distribution of Far South vessel forms.......................................... 72 4.6 Formal series of vessels in the typologies......................................... 73 4.7 Pre-Han antecedents for vessels in the typologies.................................... 83 4.8 Pre-Han vessels in dated Han tombs........................................... 88
FIGURES 1.1 Han coinage. A) 118 BC initial minting Wudi issue wushu; B) 87 74 BC initial minting Zhaodi issue wushu; C) 73 BC initial minting Xuandi issue wushu; D) AD40 post quem Eastern Han issue wushu; E) yanhuan wushu; F) jianlun wushu; G) AD7 initial minting daquan wushi; H) AD9 initial minting daoping wuqian; I) AD9 initial minting qidao wubai; J)AD10 initial minting xiaobu yibai; K)AD14 initial minting huobu; L)AD14 initial minting huoquan............................................... page 12 2.1 Tomb of the King of Nanyue (Xianggangshan [Guangzhou Municipality, Guangdong])................ 20 2.2 Beizhuang (Dingxian, Hebei)............................................... 20 2.3 Sujiayituo (Suide, Shaanxi)................................................ 21 2.4 Ganquan (Hanjiang, Yangzhou Municipality, Jiangsu) M2................................ 21 2.5 Guangzhou (Guangdong) M5041............................................. 22 2.6 Baiji (Tongshan, Xuzhou Municipality, Jiangsu), stone................................. 22 2.7 Tomb of Liu Qi (Yuemiao [Huayin, Shaanxi]) M1................................... 23 3.1 Yaozhuang (Hanjiang, Yangzhou Municipality, Jiangsu) M101:190, lacquer toiletries box (lian)............ 35 3.2 Left Wu family shrine (Jiaxiang, Shandong), banquet scene, stone 9........................... 46 3.3 Balimiao (Yanggu, Shandong) M1, stone......................................... 47 3.4 Songshan (Jiaxiang, Shandong) M1, stone 14....................................... 48 3.5 Tomb of Bu Qianqiu (Luoyang Municipality, Henan), painting............................. 49 3.6 Feicheng (Shandong), stone................................................ 51 3.7 Beiguan (Huaiyang, Henan), stone............................................ 53 3.8 Xinye (Henan), brick................................................... 54 3.9 Yihe (Pengxian, Sichuan), undatable, brick........................................ 55 3.10 Chengguanzhen (Fangcheng, Henan), stone....................................... 56 3.11 Songshan (Jiaxiang, Shandong) M2, stone 1....................................... 57 3.12 Zhangxu (Suining, Xuzhou Municipality, Jiangsu), stone................................ 58 4.1 Shangma (Houma Municipality, Shanxi) M1004:11, ca. early 5 c. BC.......................... 86 4.2 Xiasi (Xichuan, Henan) M3:6, Early Late Springs and Autumns (ca. late 6 c. BC), bronze............... 86 4.3 Tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (Leigudun, Suixian, Hubei), d. 433 BC, EC 8:1, earthenware guan......... 87 4.4 Mancheng (Hebei) M2:4028, bronze........................................... 89 4.5 Mancheng (Hebei) M2:4029, bronze........................................... 89 4.6 Shuihudi (Yunmeng, Hubei) M3:3, bronze....................................... 90 4.7 Tomb of the King of Nanyue (Xianggangshan [Guangzhou Municipality, Guangdong]) C53, bronze brazier..... 90 4.8 Tomb of the King of Nanyue (Xianggangshan [Guangzhou Municipality, Guangdong]) G40, bronze brazier..... 91 4.9 Gebukou (Zhucheng, Shandong), Middle Warring States, bronze............................ 92 4.10 Sanlidun (Lianshui, Jiangsu), silver- and gold-inlaid bronze............................... 92 4.11 Sanlidun (Lianshui, Jiangsu), silver-plated bronze, turquoise and silver inlay....................... 93 4.12 Hejiayuan (Wuhu Municipality, Anhui) M1:5, bronze.................................. 94 4.13 Baijia (Handan, Hebei) M57:1, Middle Warring States, bronze............................. 94 4.14 Hejiayuan (Wuhu Municipality, Anhui) M1:4, bronze.................................. 94 vii
viii List of Figures 4.15 Hejiayuan (Wuhu Municipality, Anhui) M1:3, bronze.................................. 95 4.16 Jincun (Luoyang, Henan), Middle/Late Warring States (ca. 4 c. BC), gilded bronze, silver, glass............ 96 4.17 Tomb of the Marquis of Cai (Shouxian, Anhui), d. 491 BC, bronze bo bell....................... 97 4.18 Mancheng (Hebei) M1:4284, 4286, gilded bronze................................... 100 4.19 Zangjiazhuang (Zhucheng, Shandong) M5, ca. 4 c. BC, bronze bianzhong bell.................... 101 4.20 A) Tomb of the King of Nanyue (Xianggangshan [Guangzhou Municipality, Guangdong]) G41, bronze brazier; B) Baijia (Handan, Hebei) M57:43, Middle Warring States, bronze pan basin...................... 102
MAPS Note: Maps are approximate, not to scale, based on Anon., Zhonghua renmin gongheguo fensheng dituji (Shanghai: Ditu, 1984) and (for Map 3) Tan Qixiang, Zhongguo lishi dituji: yuanshi shehui, Xia, Shang, Xi Zhou, Chunqiu, Zhanguo shiqi (Shanghai: Ditu, 1982), 20 1. Map 1. Modern China: Provinces................................................. xvii A Heilongjiang B Jilin C Liaoning D Inner Mongolia E Beijing Municipality F Tianjin Municipality G Hebei H Shanxi I Shaanxi J Gansu K Ningxia L Xinjiang M Tibet N Qinghai O Sichuan P Hubei Q Henan R Shandong S Jiangsu T Anhui U Zhejiang V Jiangxi W Hunan X Guizhou Y Yunnan Z Guangxi AA Guangdong BB Fujian Map 2. Modern China: Selected Archaeological Sites 1 Holingor ([Helin ge er,] Inner Mongolia) 2 Tangshan (Hebei)........................................ xviii ix
x List of Maps 3 Dingxian (Hebei) 4 Handan (Hebei) 5 Changzhi Municipality (Shanxi) 6 Suide (Shaanxi) 7 Xianyang Municipality (Shaanxi) 8 Xi an Municipality (Shaanxi) 9 Wuwei (Gansu) 10 Tongxin (Ningxia) 11 Guyuan (Ningxia) 12 Datong (Qinghai) 13 Maowen (Sichuan) 14 Mianyang Municipality (Sichuan) 15 Chengdu Municipality (Sichuan) 16 Suizhou Municipality (Hubei) 17 Jingmen Municipality (Hubei) 18 Dangyang (Hubei) 19 Jiangling (Hubei) 20 Yunmeng (Hubei) 21 Zhengzhou Municipality (Henan) 22 Miyang (Henan) 23 Luoyang Municipality (Henan) 24 Nanyang Municipality (Henan) 25 Xinyang Municipality (Henan) 26 Zibo Municipality (Shandong) 27 Yanggu (Shandong) 28 Feicheng (Shandong) 29 Jiaxiang (Shandong) 30 Jining Municipality (Shandong) 31 Linyi (Shandong) 32 Cangshan (Shandong) 33 Xuzhou Municipality (Jiangsu) 34 Yangzhou Municipality (Jiangsu) 35 Wuhu Municipality (Anhui) 36 Shaoxing (Zhejiang) 37 Changsha Municipality (Henan) 38 Zhaotong Municipality (Yunnan) 39 Kunming Municipality (Yunnan) 40 Guangzhou Municipality (Guangdong) 41 P yôngyang (Democratic People s Republic of Korea) Map 3. Pre-Han China: Springs and Autumns (ca. 771 475 BC)..................................xix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was begun at the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto) in the summer of 1994 with the cooperation of the Far Eastern Department and with funding from the Summer Stipend program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. A Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Durham in the fall of 1994 provided further support. Additionally, the resourcefulness of the late Karen Probst of the Appleton Public Library (Wisconsin) allowed me indispensable access to interlibrary loan sources. I am also indebted to friends and colleagues who have sent me copies of inaccessible articles and books, as well as offprints of their own work. In particular, I would like to thank the following for their help and support: Doris Dohrenwend, Barbara Stephen, and the Far Eastern Department of the Royal Ontario Museum; Keith Pratt and the East Asian Department of the University of Durham; Judith Turner and the members of the Van Mildert College staff, University of Durham; François Thierry de Crussol, Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Rosalind Bradford; Anne Cheng; Corinne Debaine-Francfort; Albert E. Dien; Lothar von Falkenhausen; Louisa G. Fitzgerald Huber; the late Pierre Lévêque; Michael Loewe; Sergej S. Minjaev; Roger L. Olesen; Michèle Pirazzoli-t Serstevens; and Kuo-ming Sung. I would also like to thank an anonymous reader at Brill (Leiden), whose comments were very helpful as I reworked my manuscript. Special thanks are due to Beatrice Rehl, Director of Publishing, Humanities, and Asya Graf, Editor, Archaeology and Renaissance Studies, Cambridge University Press, and their associates, together with the anonymous reviewers, for their suggestions and kindness; and, for their authorization to reproduce relevant illustrations, to Shi Jinsong, Director, The Archaeology Press, Institute of Archaeology (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo), the editors of Kaogu yu wenwu, and the Shandong meishu chubanshe. Above all, none of this work, nor that which preceded it, would have been possible without the continual support emotional, intellectual, and financial and enthusiasm of my late mother, Mary E. Psarras. It goes without saying that any errors in this work are my own. NOTE With few exceptions, I have used Hans Bielenstein s translations of official titles from The Bureaucracy of Han Times (Cambridge University Press, 1980). For the identification of coins, I have followed Guojia wenwuju Zhongguo guqian pu, eds., Zhongguo guqian pu (Illustrative Plates of Chinese Ancient Coins, Beijing: Wenwu, 1989). For material included in my typologies and in the lists of dated sites, full references are provided separately under the heading References for Dated Sites ; in the typologies and text presented here (but not in the footnotes), only the name of the site, with an abbreviated form of the publication reference, is used. Because of space constraints, only a minimum of Chinese characters is provided. Characters for site names (but not locations) are given in the Alphabetical Listings of Dated Han and of Dated Non-Chinese, Sites. xi
ABBREVIATIONS BMFEA KG KGXB KGXJK KGYWW HHS HS HXKG NMGWWKG SJ WW or WW WWCKZL WWZLCK Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Kaogu Kaogu xuebao Kaoguxue jikan Kaogu yu wenwu Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982. 12 volumes. Ban Gu, Hanshu. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983. 12 volumes. Huaxia kaogou Neimenggu wenwu kaogu Sima Qian, Shiji. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982. 10 volumes. Wenwu (the journal) or Wenwu (the publishing house) Wenwu cankao ziliao Wenwu ziliao congkan xiii
HAN EMPERORS Western Han 206 195 BC Gaozu 194 188 BC Huidi 187 180 BC Empress Dowager Lü 179 157 BC Wendi 156 141 BC Jingdi 140 87 BC Wudi 86 74 BC Zhaodi 73 49 BC Xuandi 48 33 BC Yuandi 32 7 BC Chengdi 6 1 BC Aidi 1 BC AD 5 Pingdi Eastern Han AD 6 8 Child Emperor, Regency of Wang Mang Xin Dynasty AD 9 24 Wang Mang AD 25 57 Guangwu AD 58 75 Mingdi AD 76 88 Zhangdi AD 89 105 Hedi AD 106 Shangdi AD 107 125 Andi AD 126 144 Shundi AD 145 Chongdi AD 146 Zhidi AD 147 167 Huandi AD 168 188 Lingdi AD 189 The Young Emperor AD 189 220 Xiandi PRE-HAN CHRONOLOGY Late Shang ca. 13 c. mid-11 c. BC Western Zhou ca. 1050/1040 771 BC Early Western Zhou ca. 1050/1040 950 BC Middle Western Zhou ca. 950 850 BC Late Western Zhou ca. 850 771 BC Eastern Zhou ca. 771 221 BC Springs and Autumns ca. 771 475 BC Early Springs and Autumns ca. 771 670 BC Middle Springs and Autumns ca. 670 570 BC Late Springs and Autumns ca. 570 475 BC Warring States ca. 475 221 BC Early Warring States ca. 475 390 BC Middle Warring States ca. 390 310 BC Late Warring States ca. 310 221 BC GENERALIZED HAN CHRONOLOGY Western Han ca. 206 BC AD 6 Early Western Han ca. 206 157 BC Middle Western Han ca. 156 74 BC Late Western Han ca. 73 BC AD 5 de facto Wang Mang AD 6 24 Eastern Han ca. AD 25 220 Early Eastern Han ca. AD 25 105 Middle Eastern Han ca. AD 106 167 Late Eastern Han ca. AD 168 220 xv
A B L M N O J K D I H P Q G E F R T S C U X W V BB Y Z AA Map 1. Modern China: Provinces
1 2 41 12 9 13 38 10 11 14 15 6 7 8 3 4 26 5 27 28 22293032 31 23 21 33 24 25 16 35 18 17 20 19 37 34 36 39 40 Map 2. Modern China: Selected Archaeological Sites
Qin Jin Zhou Chu Qi Map 3. Pre-Han China: Springs and Autumns (ca. 771 475 BC)